Double-action double door.



W. P. ARMSTRONG. DOUBLE ACTION .DGUBLE DOOR. APPLICATION FILED HAY6,1907.

931,247. Patented Au 17, 1909.

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fizz/1g witnesses Inventor w PwM/Vrmmg WILLIAM P. ARMSTRONG, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONEsFOURTH TO ELIZABETH KINGSBUR Y, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AND THREEQFOUBTHS TO ARM STRONG SLIDING DOOR COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Boosts-sorrow sonata noon.

Patented. t7, 1943 9..

Application filed May 6, 1907; Serial N 0. 372,279.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM PATRICK Amisrnoxo, a citizen of the United States,

residing at Los Angeles, in the county of 5 Losl-rngeles and State California, have invented a new and useful Double-Action Double Door, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to edgowiseanoving l doors in which two closures are hung at oppositesides of an opening, and are arranged to move simultaneously toward and from each other for closing and opening the door,

the operation of one of the doors serving to 5 operate the other; the purpose being to provide a. thoroughly satisfactory means for closing and opening the doorway in the most expeditious manner. To accomplish this it is necessary that the doorway be closed by two closures which sinniltaneously move toward or from the mid-line of the door-way,

so that by moving one of the doors across half the space of the door-way, the doorway is fully open across its entire width. An object of this invention is to provide a simple door of this character which will operate with maximum ease and smoothness and without liability of catching or sticking. The accompanyingdrawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a view of a door constructed in accordance with this invention, portions of the closures and door-frame being broken away to expose interior construction. Fig. 2

isa tragmental, longitudinal section of the saline. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation from line X, Figs. 1 and 2.

The pair of sliding doors 1 and 2 is hung in a door-frame The supporting shaft 4t 0 is mounted in a pair of bearings 11 near the top corners of the door-frame, and a third hanger 12 near the center of the top of the door-frame, said shaft being smooth and true as required to form a good sliding support. 1 i

The bearing-blocks 5 and (3 are slidingly mounted upon the shaft,-and tongues extend frointhe bearing-blocks into the spiral grooves 7 and 8, the groove on one side of thothird hanger being rightlianded and the groove on the other side being loft-handed.

The doors 1 and 2 are hung upon the bearing-blocks 5 and (S, the tongue-and-groovc connection between the supporting shaft and a ieavy strapof iron.

\ The supporting shaft. t and bearingbloehs to may be of steel or any other suitable ina erial. The bearing blocks are fixed to the closures, )re.terably being housed or heddedtherein, andsaid bear-in blocks may he set- I at any suitable place on t .e doors, preferably 79 at the edges thereof, as shown in the drawings. i The principle of operation is appareri, that is to say, when pressure is applied, to, either one of the doors to move it edgewise; the force is transn'iitted by the ton no oft-ho bearing-block of said door and t; e" spiral. groove engaging therewith to rotate the porting shaft; and the other spiral groove on said supporting shaft acts on the tongue 30 of the bearing-block of the other door to.

' 'oiting drive the other door along the supp k shaft in the direction opposite to that in which the first inentioned door is bein moved. This fact results no matter whit; 5 35 door is moved, nor whether the moveixint isto open or close the door. -By the means shown, the doors are swnng free, andare' not subject to rattle, and there are no cords nor pulleys to get out of order. The supporting 99 shaft is smooth and the bearing-blocks run smoothly thereon. It is to be noted that the doors are hung from a supporting-shaft at the top of said doors, and that the bearing blocks in the doors areheld thereby from any rotation, \i'hilegravity holds the doors in true vertical position, the supporting shaft being prete ably arranged midway between the sides of the door so that the center of gravity will be vertically beneath the axis 0 of the supporting shaft.

A cushion formed by any suitable mate rial, as a rubber strip 13, may be applied between the doors as a butter to check the doors when they come together. I

14 designates butters to stop the doors when they are thrown open.

It is evident that the dimensions of the parts may be varied to suit different purposes and different conditions, and that the invention 18 not limited to any particular size or specific construction. I have deterl -a pitch of .tWo inches more or less; that is,

the spiral groove .makes one turn around the rod or supporting shaft in every two or three inches of the length thereof. All these matters, however, may be varied within the skill of the constructor. I

I have shown conventional bearing-blocks fixed to the doors, respectively to slide on the shaft and it is to be understood that the form of such bearing-blocks is immaterial, it being simply necessary that the device for transmitting motion from one of the doors to the other, shall comprise a fully rotatable supporting shaft and non-rotatable means fixed to the freely movable doors to engage the spiral grooves of the shaft, whereby the movement of one of the doors in one direction Will cause the supporting shaft to 1'0- tate and will thereby drive the other door in the other direction.

It is evident that it is immaterial to the essence of this invention whether the spiral grooves are of like or of different pitch. 1f the opposite spiral grooves are of the same itch both doors will move at the same speed, and will travel like distances.

If the spiral grooves are made of various pitches the movement of the doors will vary in speed and in distance, traveled according to the variation ofthe pitch of the spiral grooves. a

Each door is provided with a bearingblock at each edge, andthe supporting shaft is cylindrical and spirally grooved, and runs through and fits andv acts on both bearing blocks uniformly and simultaneously, therenear the upper corners, a third by avoiding any liability of cramping. or sticking. Both the doors are thus caused to respond freely and smoothly to pressure ap plied to either.

What I claim is 1. In a double action double door, a door-frame, bearings supported by the frame near the top of the opening, a hanger near the center of the opening forming a third bearing, a smoothsupporting shaft rotatably mounted in said bearings, there being a right-hand spiral groove in said shaft upon one side of the third bearing and a left-hand spiral groove upon the other side of the third bearing; bearing-blocks mounted upon said shaft, tongues carried by the bearing blocks and extending into said grooves, and doors hung upon the bearing-blocks so that when one door is operated the supporting shaft is rotated to operate the other door in a reverse direction.

2. Ina double action double door, a middle door-frame, bearings secured to the frame the center of the top of the frame, a smooth supporting shaft mounted in said three bearings, said shaft having a right-hand spiral groove upon one side of the third bearing and a left-hand spiral groove upon the other side of the third bearing, balls in the end bearings at the ends of the supporting shaft, bearing-blocks slidingly mounted upon the supporting shaft, tongues extending from the bearing-blocks into the grooves of the supporting shaft, and doors hung upon the bearing-blocks so that when one door is operated the other door is operated in the op-. posite direction.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles California this 1st day of May 1907.

\V M. P. ARMSTRONG.

In presence 0f- James 1%. 'lownsenn, M. BEULAH TOWNSEND.

bearing at l 

